Tax season now open

The Illinois Department of Revenue announced Tuesday, Jan. 29 that it will start accepting and processing tax returns filed electronically. Once their federal tax returns have been completed, Illinois taxpayers have several options for filing their State returns. WebFile, the Illinois Department of Revenue's online filing sys...

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By Special to the Times

The Carmi Times - Carmi, IL

By Special to the Times

Posted Feb. 1, 2013 at 10:00 AM

By Special to the Times

Posted Feb. 1, 2013 at 10:00 AM

Chicago

The Illinois Department of Revenue announced Tuesday, Jan. 29 that it will start accepting and processing tax returns filed electronically. Once their federal tax returns have been completed, Illinois taxpayers have several options for filing their State returns. WebFile, the Illinois Department of Revenue's online filing system at tax.illinos.gov, walks taxpayers through all of the options for credits and deductions and is available free to all Illinois tax filers.

Taxpayers may also file electronically, either through paid tax preparers or software designed for 2012 tax year filings. Low-income taxpayers and seniors may also seek assistance from a statewide list of volunteer tax professionals. A list of these sites is available at tax.illinois.gov. Finally, taxpayers may download the forms they need, fill them out and mail them to the Department through the US Postal Service.

"The State of Illinois works with non-profit agencies to help low-income and senior filers so they can file early and get the biggest refunds to which they are entitled," said Brian Hamer, director, Illinois Department of Revenue. "By filing their tax return electronically rather than mailing in a paper return, taxpayers can ensure that their refunds are issued as quickly as possible. Last year, almost 80% of taxpayers filed electronically."

Filing returns electronically has significant benefits for taxpayers. Math errors are caught before returns are filed, signatures are affixed electronically and tax preparation programs help to make sure that taxpayers receive all of the credits and deductions for which they are eligible. This is particularly helpful to the more than one million families eligible for the Earned Income Credit or education credits.

State taxes filed electronically are processed quickly and direct deposit refunds are generally paid in about a week. Starting this year, taxpayers who use WebFile may instead opt to receive their Illinois refund on a debit card that eliminates check cashing fees for people without standard checking or savings accounts.

Once Illinois taxpayers have received their W-2s, interest and dividend statements, property tax and mortgage interest payment information, and other tax reporting information they can do their taxes. Taxpayers who received a refund on their Illinois taxes last year may log on to tax.illinois.gov to obtain an electronic copy of their 1099G which shows the amount of last year's tax refund that Illinois reports to the IRS.